Controversial former fund manager Neil Woodford is taking to Youtube to share his investment views in video form.
The former Invesco Perpetual heavyweight and Woodford Investment Management founder shared a Youtube video on Saturday evening in which he announced his intention to “make some videos” to complement his Woodford views blog.
“You’ll be delighted to know I’ve been dragged at last kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and I’ve decided to make some videos to complement what I’ve been doing with the Woodford Views blog,” Woodford said, his words accompanied by a lo-fi background soundtrack.
“This is the first of many – I hope – if it works I think. The videos will be designed to coincide with important events in markets and economics and possibly politics.
“I hope they are not too awful, I wasn’t exactly designed for the video age, but let’s have a go.”
“Neither hero nor villain”
The update follows the launch of the Woodford Views blog in April, in which he stated his intention to help investors “navigate the complexities of financial markets” in an introductory post.
He vowed to present economic commentary that focused on “relevant facts and data without censorship from editors, pressure to toe a particular line or consensus thinking.”
The former fund manager’s attempted rebrand comes after the collapse of Woodford Investment Management in 2019 under his leadership.
He has been widely blamed for the debacle, which followed the shuttering of the firm’s flagship Woodford Equity Income fund.
That came after the fund struggled to meet redemptions from investors due to its outsized investments in illiquid and unquoted stocks.
This year The Financial Conduct Authority revealed it had mulled fining the authorised corporate director of the fund, Link Fund Solutions, £50 million for its failure to prevent the scandal. Link avoided this due to agreeing to make redress payments of up to £230m to investors in the fund.
The FCA also issued a formal notice to Woodford and Woodford Investment Management this year, after completing its investigations into the affair.
In his first blog post, Woodford said:
“With respect to my story, the truth is that I am neither hero nor villain.“
“I was never the financial saviour of Middle England, but then, neither do I think I was worthy of the onslaught that followed the failure of my business.”
Robin has more than six years of experience as a financial journalist, most of which were spent at Citywire, and covers the latest developments in the investing, trading and currency transfer space. Outside of work, he enjoys reading literature and philosophy and playing the piano.
You can contact Robin at robin@goodmoneyguide.com
